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Dickey named National League Pitcher of the Month

Dickey named National League Pitcher of the Month

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Dickey's dominant start 1:18

6/29/12: R.A. Dickey becomes the first pitcher to 12 wins as he hurls eight scoreless innings, striking out 10 against the Dodgers

By Paul Casella
/
MLB.com |

In one of the least surprising announcements of the season so far, Mets knuckleballer R.A. Dickey was named the National League Pitcher of the Month on Monday for his repeated dominance throughout the month of June.

Dickey continued his remarkable breakout season by tossing back-to-back one-hitters in the midst of going 5-0 with a miniscule 0.93 ERA for the month. The 37-year-old also became the first pitcher in the big leagues this season to reach 12 wins, which also surpasses his previous career high of 11 victories in the 2010 campaign.

Just about the only negative occurrence for Dickey this month was the Yankees finally snapping his 44 2/3-inning streak of not allowing an earned run. Not only was the streak the second longest in franchise history, but it was also the longest by any Major League pitcher since 1988 when Orel Hershiser tossed 59 consecutive scoreless frames.

Prior to the conclusion of that scoreless stretch, though, Dickey had already hurled three complete games and a pair of shutouts, doubling his previous career shutout total.

As for the consecutive one-hitters, Dickey notched 12 strikeouts in a June 13 victory against the Rays and followed that up with 13 more K's against the Orioles on June 18. With those performances, Dickey became the only pitcher in modern history (since 1900) to toss back-to-back one-hitters, while striking out at least 10 batters in each.

For the season, Dickey is 12-1 with a 2.15 ERA and 116 strikeouts.

Paul Casella is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.